Brock and Shannon Wills with an example of how the dirt separates during the filtration process.

Callum and Rhys Bailey inspected an example of water before it has been filtered.

Tatura’s water treatment plant was opened to the public last week when attendees were given a tour of the facility.

The tour followed a Boil-Water Notice issued to residents by Goulburn Valley Water in May after two samples revealed E.coli in the town’s water supply.

GV Water technical services general manager Steve McKenzie confirmed the result was likely to have been a false alarm.

‘‘We take 5000 to 10000 samples each year and it’s very unusual to get a positive result,’’ Mr McKenzie said.

‘‘We’re 99 per cent sure there was really nothing there, but we’ll never know.’’

Mr McKenzie said GV Water issued the notice within two to three hours of getting the positive result.

‘‘We were able to cancel the Boil-Water Notice within 48 hours,’’ he said.

GV Water operations and maintenance employee Warren Gaylard explained how staff went about flushing the town’s water supply in order to ensure the notice could be lifted.

‘‘We used plans, broken into zones, and worked into the night, completing flushing with just a few areas to tackle in the morning,’’ he said.

Mr McKenzie said about six staff members worked during a 12-hour period flushing the supply and confirmed this water ‘‘just went down the drain’’.

GV Water community education officer Kristy Elrington took attendees through the plant, known as a dissolve, air, flotation and filtration (DAFF) plant, and the processes involved in getting clean drinking water for the town.

She said the plant filtered raw water, which came from a nearby channel and two large storages.

Mr McKenzie capped off the tour by announcing there would be a new treatment plant built in Tatura within the next 12 months.

‘‘We’ll be duplicating Tatura Water Treatment Plant in the next 12 months, which will be about a $6million upgrade to make sure Tatura, and the industries in Tatura, have enough water for the future,’’ he said.